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OPEN AIR SCHOOLS 





Division of Education 
Russell Sage Foundation 

:30 East Twenty-second Street, New York City 



Price 10 Cent: 



-13-25 



ORIGINAL SAMPLE 

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THE NUMBER DOUBLES EVERY YEAR 



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1911 



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1909 



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60 



In 1908 three cities in the United States had open air schools. Now 
more than sixty have them. Roughly speaking, the number of open 
air schools has increased over 100 per cent, each year for the last five 
years. Probably more than a quarter of a million city school children 
are in immediate need of the treatment given in the open air school. 



•CT 



WHERE IT BEGAN AND WHY 

The Open Air School is a sanatorium, playground, and school- 
room, combined. Lessons are taught by specially skilled teachers; 
cleanliness is enforced; expert dental and medical care is given. 
The aim of the school is to make it possible for debilitated children 
to continue their education, and at the same time regain their health. 
Its three prime essentials are plenty of fresh air, warm clothing, and 
good food. 

The First Open Air School was started in Charlottenburg, a 
suburb of Berlin, in 1904. More than a hundred anemic, ailing 
children, behind in their classes, were taken from the schoolrooms 
and taught in a pine forest. Three months later nearly all of these 
children returned to their schools, rosy, sturdy, free from disease, 
and further advanced in their lessons than their normal schoolmates. 
Today the out-of-door school is an integral part of the German educa- 
tional system. 

Three Years Later London opened its first open air school. 
The results obtained were as remarkable as those reported in Germany. 
Within a short time the movement spread throughout Great Britain. 

In America Credit for Being the First to put the idea into 
practice must be divided between New York City and Providence, 
Rhode Island. In 1904 New York City lent one of its teachers and 
supplied equipment for a class in the Sea Breeze Hospital for tuber- 
culous children. In 1908, Providence started the first open air school 
as the term is now understood. Since that time over 60 American 
cities have established open air schools. No single case of failure 
has been recorded. No city that has once undertaken the work has 
since abandoned it. 

Fresh Air for All the Children is the next step. Educators 
and parents are beginning to ask why if open air schools are of such 
benefit to ailing children they should not be even more beneficial to 
healthy children. A child should not need to be diseased in order to 
secure abundant fresh air and warm sunshine. 

[3] 



STARTED IN EUROPE 




The First Open 
Started in Charlottenburg, Germany. 

to be found in most European countries 



IR bCHOOL 

1904. Similar schools are now 




Main Building, Open Air School, Br.\dford, England 

The open air school was introduced into England in 1907 at Bostall 

Wood, a suburb of London 



l4 



ADOPTED IN AMERICA 



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The Pioneer ix the United States — First Open Air School in 
Providence, Rhode Island 




One of the Special Schools Opened in Boston, ISIassachusetts, 

July 16, 1908, for Tuberculous Children 

Of 41 cases, after the first summer's work, it was found that in 27, the 

disease had either been arrested or entirely cured 

[5] 



THE FERRY TO HEALTH — A FLOATING SCHOOL 




New York Uses Her Abandoned Ferryboats for Hos- 
pitals AND Open Air Classes 




Rest Hour Afloat 

Silence enforced, sleep encouraged. Beds or cots 

are preferable to steamer chairs 





Travellers to Health 
They come on board at nine and stay until five, out-of-doors all day long on the 

ferryboat school 
[6] 



A TIP TOP USE FOR ROOFS 




Chicago Roof Class 
The Elizabeth AlcCormick Open Air Fund in Chicago, which supports 
nine open air schools, is prepared to answer questions and make sugges- 
tions as to equipment, cost, and results. Address S. C. Kingsle}', 315 
Plymouth Court, Chicago, Illinois 




In April, 19 10, Xew York started its first open air 
class on the roof of Public School 21, Manhattan. 
The open class room windows testify to the impetus 
given the movement to secure fresh air for all chil- 
dren 

[7] 



THESE CHILDREN GENERATE THEIR OWN WARMTH 




Canvas Roofs Keep Out the Raix axd Sxow ix jMoxtclair, N. J. 




Class Room 



Heat supplied by steam and confined by walls is inferior to heat 
supplied by food and confined by hoods and blankets. 

[8] 



FOOD AND CLOTHING IN NEW YORK CITY SCHOOLS 





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Courtesy N. Y. Committee on Prevention of Tuberculosis 

In and Out of the "Sitting-out" Bag 
These pictures were taken at the Carmine Street School, New York City 



Food — One of the Three Essentials 

The following menu supplements two meals at home, and is t}^pical 
of the American practice: 

Breakfast 

Cocoa, graham gems, butter, stewed prunes. 

Lunch 

Stew of rice and mutton, or creamed codfish; mashed potato; 
bread, butter; milk; dates or figs. 

Supper 

Milk, crackers and cream cheese, or preserved fruit. 



With the home meals, the total fuel value of the food eaten during 
the day is about 2500 calories, which is probably high for normal 
children, but not for these tuberculous children. The menu is changed 
daily. Per capita cost varies from 16 to 25 cents per day. 



9] 



THE 



DAILY 



PROGRAM 




This little Chicago girl gained 
seven pounds in the first four 
weeks she was in school. Open 
air school children lose weight 
only during vacation time. 



Time Allotment 
Public School 21, X. Y 



C. 



8.45-9.00 Arrive at school, get 

warm. 

9.00-9.30 Breakfast of egg and 

milk. Rest outdoors 

in sleeping blankets. 

9.30-10.30 School work. 

10.30-10.45 Recess. Bread and 

milk. 
1 0.45-1 1.30 School work. 
1 1. 30-1 2.00 Recess. Go to washroom and prepare for lunch. 
12.00-12.30 Lunch. 
12.30- 1. 00 Sleep. 
2.00- 3.00 School work. 
3.00- 3.15 Recess. Bread and milk. 
3.15- 4.00 School work. 
4.00- 5.00 Play hour. 



;.oo 



Go home. 




Temperature Taking 
[10] 



CLOSE TO MOTHER EARTH 




A Class Room in the Open Air School op Rochester, New York 




In New York, on the edge of the East River, where 
the open air school ferryboat, the Southfield, is 
moored 

[III 



EVEN THE NORMAL CHILD ENJOYS FRESH AIR 




Newark, New Jersey, is build- 
ing her new schools with 
pivoted windows and glass 
weather hoods, so that her 
classes are able to enjoy an 
abundance of fresh air with- 
out fear of rain or snow. 

In the fall of 1909, a Chicago 
principal turned two of his 
rooms into open-air classes 
for normal children. A phys- 
ical examination of the pupils 
was held after eight weeks 
of fresh-air instruction. The 
test was made on the propo- 
sition that the child with a 
stopped or running nose is 
handicapped in his efforts to 
learn. Among the 90 pupils 
in the two rooms, two were 
found with running noses. 
In the next two rooms, warmed 
in the usual manner, there 
were found 40 cases of 
nasal discharge. The evi- 
dence in favor of the open- 
air treatment could hardly be 
more striking. 

In German and Swiss schools 
the law requires all children 
to be out-of-doors for ten or 
fifteen minutes of every hour. 



These Schools Have Caught the Message 

For many years, normal children in Cambridge, Massachusetts, 
and Detroit, Michigan, have studied out-of-doors in good weather. 
During September and October, 19 10, and in the spring of 191 1, over 
6,000 open-air classes were held in Detroit. 



12] 



GOOD 



INVESTMENT 





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Arithmetic Class, Shrewsbury, England 



COST OF MAINTENANCE OF CHICAGO SCHOOL FOR 30 CHILDREN 
FOR ONE MONTH, NOT INCLUDING TEACHING 

Transportation $46.30 

Cook and helper 30.90 

Half time salary of nurse 35 -oo 

Bread, crackers, cookies i5-35 

Milk, cream 68.90 

Butter, cheese 10.42 

Eggs 44.03 

Groceries i3-59 

Fruits, vegetables 22.91 

Meat, poultry, fish 14-25 

Ice 4 .00 

Sweets 85 

$306.50 

30 tooth brushes at 20 cents 6.00 

Miscellaneous 8.96 

$321.46 
Cosl per child per day: 

Food $ .29 

Transportation 07 

Miscellaneous 12 

$ .48 
[13I 



A DAY OF WORK AND PLAY, OF FOOD AND REST 




]MlD--MORNTNG MeAL IN OnE CHICAGO SCHOOL 

How the Children Train One Another 

In one of the Fresh Air schools of New York City, a sudden hubbub 
was explained by a score of little voices protesting shrilly "Oh, look! 
Katie spit on the floor! Katie spit on the floor! Get the carbolic 
quick! She spit on the floor!" Katie was ostracized, and wept; 
while the pungent odors of the disinfectant proved a forcible reminder 
against future misbehavior. 




An Open Air Sentinel 

[14] 



A CLASS THAT IS ADVERTISED BY ITS LOVING FRIENDS 






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OCT 6 1918 



SOURCES OF FURTHER INFORMATION 



LIBRPRY OF CONGRESS 



000 048 357 6 



Open Air Schools. Leonard P. Ayres, Ph.D. 171 pages. Price, 
$1.20 (postage, 12 cents). Doubleday, Page & Co., New York City. 
Traces history of movement; describes English, German, and 
American types; gives results; and furnishes information con- 
cerning clothing, food, cost, administration, etc. Fully illustrated. 

Open Air Crusaders. Sherman C. Kingsley. Address Elizabeth 
McCormick Memorial Fund, 315 Plymouth Court, Chicago, 111. 
Price, $.60 postpaid. 

Significant phases of the open air movement in the United 
States, with detailed report on open air schools of the Elizabeth 
McCormick Fund, in Chicago, Illinois. Fully illustrated. 

How TO Build and Equip Open Air Schools. Dr. T. S. Carrington. 
In The Survey, April 23, 1910. 

Outdoor Schools. E. W. Curtis. In the Pedagogical Seminar. 
Vol. XVI, June, 1909. 

Sheffield Open-Air Recovery School. R. P. Williams. In 
School Hygiene, March, 19 10. Vol. I, No. 3. 

Open Air Schools. Leonard P. Ayres. In the Cyclopedia of 
Education, edited by Paul Munroe. Macmillan Co., New York. 



16] 



